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Nauruz celebrated in Chitral

CHITRAL: The Chitral Heritage and Environment Protection Society on Wednesday celebrated ‘Jashn-i-Nouruz’ at Pamir Riverside Inn with Mehtar of Chitral His Highness Fatehul Mulk Nasir as the chief guest.

The event was marked by participation of people belonging to various walks of life. The celebration was aimed at wiping out the misconception that Nouruz belonged to a particular area or community of people.

Rahmat Ali Jaffer Dost, the chairman of CHEPS, presented a unique gift, a bouquet of Russian olive branches, to the chief guest. The gift was meant to mark CHEPS’s target for the year – to plant Russian olive in the far and wide of Chitral.

Maula Nigah Nigah, a well-known poet of Khowar, recited a poem, amid loud applause of the captive audience, containing a message about environment – a theme closely related to the vision of CHEPS.

The chief guest in his address said Nowruz is not an exclusive festival to be celebrated by people of a particular area or community. He said it is celebrated and observed in many other parts of the world, including parts of Central Asia, Persia and some parts of China , regardless of regional, ethnic and religious associations.

He also said that during the Mehtar rule in Chitral Nauruz was uniformly celebrated from Arandu to Broghil under the patronage of Mehtars; but unfortunately with the passage of time its essence got narrowed down so much so that it is now celebrated in Upper Chitral and Lotkoh valley only. “The need of the time is that the tradition be revived in order to impart the real essence of Nowruz to the people of Chitral” he stressed.

It should be noted here that Nauruz was registered as the International Day of Nowruz on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on February 23, 2010.

The brief awareness session was followed by musical performances. The local singers of reputable standing including Mansoor Ali Shabab, Muhsin Hayat Shadab and Didar Ali mesmerized the audience with their spellbinding performances.—Zahoorul Haq